Lake Mead on the Colorado River has largely emptied over the last 20-plus years of drought.
California has submitted a rival plan for use of the Colorado River, after six other states accused it of refusing to cooperate in the battle over usage of a dwindling major US watercourse.
Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming were given until January 31 to come up with a plan to slash the amount of water they take from the river—or face a solution imposed by Washington.
Everyone apart from California agreed on a proposal that would see a reduction in the amount of water that makes it as far as the most populous state in the country, where critics say farmers use too much to grow crops for export.
On Tuesday, California offered its own solution, and offered to trim its own use, but in the meantime to revert to the over-subscribed status quo.
“In the absence of a seven-state consensus proposal (we) should maintain existing protections to California’s senior entitlements,” the Colorado River Board of California said in its submission to the Bureau of Reclamation, the federal government department with responsibility for water.
That came after a behind-closed-doors proposal last week from the state’s representatives to model what would happen if big cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas were cut off from the water supply, CNN reported.
The suggestion was met with strong pushback from other negotiators, the broadcaster said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Eventually, the other six states huddled, and submitted a framework of water consumption ceilings, with the bulk of the cuts falling on California to “mitigate the risk of either Lake Powell or Lake Mead reaching dead pool.”
Both reservoirs, fed by the Colorado River, have seen their levels plunge…
2023-02-02 04:10:02 California submits rival Colorado River water plan
Original from phys.org California has submitted a proposal to the federal government, outlining a plan to share the dwindling Colorado River among seven US states.
The proposal follows years of disagreement over how to divide the water supply of the increasingly scarce river. The Colorado, the main source of water for nearly 40 million people in the Southwest US, has seen water levels rapidly fall over the last two decades.
The contentious issue has pitted those looking to protect the river and neighboring Lake Mead, against the farmers and other users of the water. The proposal submitted by California is one of two, that would allocate a “drought contingency plan” for the seven member states of the Colorado River Basin. The plan would help conserve the diminishing water supply and prevent levels at Lake Mead from reaching critical lows.
The other plan, submitted by the Upper Colorado River Basin, has raised concerns among states downstream and California, over their water sharing agreements. Under this plan, the states downstream would bear the majority of the cutbacks.
California officials have countered with a proposal that would establish “equal pain” among the seven states, while maintaining adequate resources in the Colorado River basin. The plan includes steps to protect the river, such as increasing water storage, rebuilding wetlands, and adopting incentives to conserve water.
The need to establish a new water share agreement is urgent. The prolonged drought in the region, as well as unchecked population growth, has resulted in higher water demand and lower water supply. Climate change predictions, warn of a further decline in water levels.
The Lower Colorado River Basin states are reportedly in favor of the California proposal, while the states from the Upper Basin appear to stand divided. The federal government is expected to decide on the proposal by the end of the year. What is certain, is that the decision will have long-lasting consequences for both the states involved, and the Colorado River.